Chapter 16

Lauren's POV

At that, Ethan’s face darkened, his jaw tightening until the muscles stood out sharply against his skin. “I don’t care if you leave,” he hissed through clenched teeth, his voice cold enough to make the air feel icy between us. “But you see her? You’re not taking her anywhere.”

“I am,” I shot back, the words slipping past my lips before I could second-guess myself. My heart pounded in my chest like a warning drum, but beneath the fear, there was something stronger — something fierce. “She’s my daughter too, Ethan. And she doesn’t deserve to grow up in a home where her father treats her mother like this.”

His eyes narrowed, and he took another slow, deliberate step forward until he was towering over me. The shadows of the room seemed to grow around him, making him look larger, darker, more threatening. “You can’t just walk out of here and take her,” he barked, his voice echoing in the silence of the bedroom.

“So what do you want me